Her official title is a bit cryptic and describes her as Intesa Sanpaolo's Executive Director Sales&Marketing Enterprises, but everyone knows that in reality Anna Roscio is "the lady of the SMEs", as Corriere della Sera defined her some time ago, i.e. of small, very small and medium enterprises which are customers of the leading Italian bank. This is why the di lei is a unique observatory which, beyond and beyond the macroeconomic scenarios, has the true pulse of the state of health of our industrial fabric. So how are Italian SMEs and what are the challenges that await them after the pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war? Anna Roscio tells it in this interview with FIRSTonline.
Dr. Roscio, you are considered the lady of the SMEs headed by Intesa Sanpaolo and yours is therefore an extraordinary observatory for assessing the state of health of small and medium-sized Italian companies after the pandemic and in the midst of a war that is beating at the gates of the 'Europe: how are our SMEs today?
“The state of health is good. And, indeed, the companies that have managed to overcome the various crises have come out of them strengthened, more solid and structured, even financially. The confidence indexes of companies are all on the rise, even for small ones: it's a good sign, if an entrepreneur has confidence, then he moves both in terms of investments and hiring. If anything, the least confident are the very small companies, which are also the most exposed to inflationary dynamics, which are least able to shift appreciation to the customer and which have suffered the most from the energy crisis”.
How did they close the financial statements last year?
“2022 closed with overall good balance sheets, albeit partly conditioned by the price spiral. We see that there is a good propensity to invest on the part of businesses, which have seen their liquidity grow during the pandemic, and this is obviously a positive factor. In our training sessions for SMEs, as well as in the numerous company meetings, we invite entrepreneurs to manage uncertain situations lucidly. At this stage, for example, we are convinced that it is important to introduce healthy coverage of financial or industrial risks into the strategy of companies, a propensity that small companies do not yet have".
Among the various product sectors, which SMEs have the fastest growth rate and which suffer instead?
“The world of energy and in particular of photovoltaics and renewable energies is going very well, they can be considered driving elements of our economic system. Many companies are investing to create their own renewable energies in the logic of self-consumption and to reduce dependence on brown forms of energy. It is no coincidence that our Group has committed 12 billion euros to allow Italian companies to face higher energy costs and encourage investments towards a fundamental policy of diversification of sources and energy independence.
Then there is the rapidly growing tourism sector: estimates for 2023 see record levels in the arrival of tourists. However, it is a sector that would need investment, which like Intesa Sanpaolo we try to stimulate with lines of financing and ad hoc consultancy desks, to make it more attractive in terms of reception capacity, renovation of the structures, adaptation to the new needs of travellers, in a logic of maximum attention to the customer and the level of service offered.
We must not forget the strength of the agri-food sector which drives Italian exports, makes an excellent contribution to the growth of GDP and production, to accompany which we have created a specific Agribusiness Department, with headquarters in Pavia and specialized branches throughout Italy.
Finally, I recall the technology sector, which saw strong growth in the Covid period but which then continued to perform well, also because the issue of digitizing the country is central and is one of the missions of the PNRR. In this sense, as a bank, together with SMEs, we are pursuing new paths for training and access to technologies, for the digitization of businesses, including small and micro ones, to favor faster, more modern and qualified processes".
What sectors are suffering?
“Among the sectors that suffer the most in this first phase of the year we see the automotive sector. A separate discussion applies to the construction sector, among those that have had the greatest growth so far, however linked to the issue of tax incentives which have given an even excessive boost, a propulsion effect that we will also see in the coming months. In our opinion, the measure of tax incentives linked to the building and construction world has come at a time of crisis and the need to relaunch and has vehemently reactivated a sector that drives a powerful induced and represents a significant aggregate of the country's GDP ”.
How many businesses do you have on your radar?
“The planet of small and medium-sized enterprises is very diverse. The Banca dei Territori Division headed by Stefano Barrese looks after SMEs (about 200.000) in addition to micro-enterprises, which have a turnover of less than 2,5 million euros and which are around 1.000.000”.
How can your bank support companies and help them grow?
“As the first Italian bank, we believe it is a priority and a duty to support the liquidity needs of companies with even extraordinary measures and, at the same time, continue to stimulate strategic investments, in particular towards innovation, digitization and sustainable development. In 2022 alone, we activated a plan of interventions for 40 billion, of which 32 for businesses, even very small ones, to help the economic system and Italian families to support increases in energy and daily spending.
It is then evident that with respect to the specific characteristics and dimensions of the enterprises, they need different supports and services. Micro companies need credit, working capital, fast operations, possibly automatically. And, I would add, also at low cost. In this regard, for example, we have eliminated the commissions on POS for micropayments up to 15 euros, a measure that takes into account the difficulties of small merchants.
Medium and small businesses, on the other hand, need financing for investments, perhaps tailor made or with an internationalization approach to grow abroad. In these cases we support them with our factoring specialists, where we are market leaders, as well as in development plans according to ESG criteria, or by enhancing the logic of the supply chain thanks to a program created in 2015 thanks to which today we support over 800 supply chains, involving about 20 suppliers, with a total turnover of 90 billion.
We consider ourselves the bank of small and medium enterprises, with a 360-degree approach to cover their requests. Our idea for establishing a relationship with our customers is to free ourselves from the concept of a simple credit provider: certainly finance has a fundamental role because it allows investments, but our role provides advice and information, accompaniment and assistance in all phases, such as that of the generational handover or in accessing the resources of the Pnrr. There are already over 6000 SME customers of ours who, thanks to our support, have managed to obtain an incentive from the public tenders of the PNRR".
The Pnrr is a great opportunity for growth for Italy: are SMEs taking advantage of it? What role is Intesa Sanpaolo playing in this field?
“The PNRR is the country's industrial plan and a great opportunity for development, but most companies don't know how it can influence corporate strategy, how to improve it or how to get benefits. Our role is also to disseminate the measures and how to access the numerous opportunities in all sectors. The first tenders were made public in 2022 and now there is an acceleration in making them accessible. This year and 2024 will be crucial for making resources available to the economy, for meeting the objectives and for being able to use the huge funds associated with them. SMEs still find it a little difficult to orient themselves with the Pnrr and to access it. It is actually a complicated matter: there are many tenders, they are distinguished according to the sectors or territories, and it is not easy to identify the most suitable one or even access it".
So how does Intesa Sanpaolo move to favor the encounter between SMEs and the Pnrr?
“The first theme is information. Action must be taken to improve the degree of awareness of companies regarding the opportunities offered by the PNRR: like Intesa Sanpaolo we have made the digital platform Incent Now available free of charge to all corporate customers, the result of collaboration with Deloitte, which allows the company to identify quickly the best opportunities based on your profile, business sector and territory, gathering useful information to present your investment projects and compete for the allocation of public funds. Then we need disclosure and we are doing it with cycles of webinars to explain the tenders. Last year we met with about 20.000 companies. Third step: accompanying companies in accessing the tender, preparing the project and all the documentation: in this we rely on the partner Forvalue".
And then there is finance. What role does the bank play in the Pnrr?
"In the first place, it can give the necessary guarantees to be able to participate in the tender, and it can also advance the contributions that the company will receive, or provide complementary finance, if public funding is not sufficient".
How do you evaluate the relationship between public and private on the Pnrr?
"The very stimulus of the Pnrr is to combine the country's structural investments, basically in logistics, with those that are private and business investments".
In addition to the impact of the conflict in Ukraine, we have witnessed the gradual rise in interest rates, which is very positive for banks after years of zero interest rates but much less so for companies that have to pay more for bank loans: understand how you plan to meet to the problems of SMEs faced with rising interest rates?
“As regards the effect of interest rates on businesses, we have equipped ourselves with some measures that have a containment effect, such as public guarantees which, on the one hand, allow businesses to have better access to credit from a point of cost view. On the other hand, the guarantee reduces the cost of capital that the bank has to set aside, which in turn has a positive impact on the cost for the customer. Another element of compensation with respect to the increase in interest rates consists of subsidized funding. The EIB, with which Intesa Sanpaolo has historic collaboration agreements, makes subsidized funding available to banks and we, in turn, return these concessions to customers in terms of interest rate reductions in their favour".
Innovation, sustainability and digitization are now part of the new business paradigm: what cards can Intesa play to encourage this process, also in relation to the reconfiguration of value chains?
“A historic change is underway. Many phenomena and indicators in recent years have brought us to the need to apply new ways of doing business, more attentive to the environment, society and people. In this context, more and more companies have begun to raise the level of attention towards their environmental and social impact. Our Group's task is to grasp these signals and support investments towards the digital and environmental transition. We have seen good momentum towards these issues thanks to our S-Loan and D-Loan, specific lines of financing based on a reward mechanism, in terms of discount on the rate, on the achievement of sustainability and digitization objectives shared between the bank and the company . With the S-Loan loan, for example, in about two years we have disbursed over 5 billion in loans to SMEs for investments in sustainability.
In the midst of the pandemic, we structured a 50 billion strategic program for companies called Motore Italia and which placed innovation and sustainability as crucial for growth. We have also signed a specific “Competitiveness, Innovation, Sustainability” Agreement with Confindustria: a strategic plan worth 150 billion to promote the development and revitalization of the real Italian economy.
In the field of innovation we have ridden what was and is Industry 4.0, the tax incentives for investments in innovation. Here too with dedicated funding but above all with partnerships made available to carry out innovation assessments and understand the level of investment required. Leveraging on the tax incentive, it guided the transformation of our businesses: it was a balanced measure in terms of incentives that concerned the industrial part, machinery, training and research. A very effective measure, but now the rates are more than halved”.
Are there sectors that most need a fiscal stimulus right now?
“Fiscal stimulus helps businesses look ahead and benefit from public support. In this phase of energy and environmental transition, I believe we could strengthen the incentives in this area as well".
The medium-small companies that have chosen to stay that way and not be incorporated into larger companies have found other ways to support themselves, joining supply chains or districts or something else. How do you see this aspect?
“We have to distinguish between the concept of the supply chain and that of the district. For us, the supply chain refers to production. There is a leader, a major buyer, and there are his suppliers. In an economic model such as the Italian one made up of a few large companies and many small ones, the supply chain is the winning mechanism: it allows small companies to internationalize through their leader and to participate in broader industrial projects. We developed a “Supply Chain Programme” a few years ago which has garnered great interest: we have signed over 800 supply chain contracts with 20.000 connected suppliers. The principle is that the small company receives the same benefits in terms of rating and price as the financing of its leader thanks to the contract that the latter signs in favor of its suppliers”.
